The Infinite Despair
by kryuzei
Summary: Elizabeth had finally found someone that can grant her wish, but it seems that the man wouldn't grant her wish without a certain price. In doing that, the world is splitted into two. My own version of story of how FeMC story come into being.
1. Chapter 1

It was only a simple moment...

Enjoying a life within a year...

Creating a relationship with every person in the school...

If he was asked whether he had a happy life or not- he can answer that he indeed, had a great time on his life.

But a simple life within a year was too short for human to comprehend the real meaning of the world. Here, Minato Arisato stood between the borders of the Shadow. . The Armageddon of human and everyone whom he loved..

In one year, he had learnt so many things. . Igor said that the persona reflects his 'social link' with other person. . Now, thinking about it. .It must be a fate for him to grant him a wish. A wish so that he could learn love. .So that he would have a meaning to protect those he loved.

In one year, he had fought with his companions, to defeat the things that they called 'shadow−A mysterious entity that appear in the Tartarus, a tower who reached the sky. . .

Tartarus was originally their school, which mysteriously transformed into a giant tower during the dark hour. . But it was a past.

The tower...

The Dark hour...

And the Armageddon were all sealed in the gate that he guarded.

It was only a simple moment. . He had enjoyed the meaning of life. .For some people, the short time would become something irritating, despairing, or saddening. But for him, it was enough. During the day when he agreed to the contract, he had a feeling that his life was fated for that day−the day when they fought Nyx. .And sealed the shadow.

But then, there's still one thing that was mysterious for him−his own fate. .Does it really have any meaning? He had become a hero which no one knows−Which no one had even noticed .For them, his existence doesn't have any meaning at all. It was as if he doesn't exist to everyone that he protects.

Does it have any meanings at all?

"Indeed. . It's a wonder that you just thought about this now." A calm voice and a friendly voice that Minato Arisato knows well. .It was a voice from his friend the thirteenth Arcana. The Death...Or other known as Ryoji Michozuki.

A moment later, a young man with black hair which pointed backward and wears a long white scarf on his neck appear in front of him. .Or rather, he appears in front of his sight. His body after all, does not exist anywhere on this dimension. .Thus, where he is, and how Ryoji can appear in front of him was an unknown for him.

Minato fell into silence. He cannot argue with him, as he was questioning about that himself in his mind.

"Whether it will be a thousand year. .Two thousand year after this. .Soon the Armageddon will fall. No matter how much you tried to protect them, they will still fall. ." A smile appeared on Ryoji's face−An innocent one. . There is no malice in it even though he said such a thing.

"Human itself is a weak creature. . They cannot protect their self.. A moment when persona was born in this world, the human itself proofed their weakness to the world." Again, Minato cannot argue with this word.

"But then, you came. . Along with your persona, you have stopped things that I was feared of. . My fate was changed because of you." The smile didn't disappear from his face.

"Still, an Armageddon is not something that you cannot stop. As if there was a life, there will also a death. A balance nature that the world had created−a fate that cannot be changed, except by the god itself."

"Then, what if I am the god?" For the first time, Minato had spoken.

"You are not the God. The power within you−It had only possessed a fragment of the god power. ."

"Will there be a proof that I can't stop the Armageddon to happen again?"

"A power who was created by human will cannot defy the will of the God . . . The coming of the Nyx was not the will of the God. The will of the God was when you protected the human. .But God will call death upon as all, there. .Even with your power, you cannot stop it."

Minato was about to spoke. .But he stopped when he saw the looks on Ryoji's face. It was a sad smile that was plastered on it, a deep black eyes that fell hollow after each word was said. He looked like he was about to cry, but he held it. "It is no time to be sad." He said.

"There is no way to change your fate. .Armageddon will fall. But, knowing that...Will you continue to protect those who you love?"

Then, he disappeared. Minato could felt a small breeze of wind on his face. It was impossible. .If you think about it logically. But it's not a mistake. The feeling of wind was real. .Then a realization hit him again.

It was a proof that he still alive. .

A proof that he will always lived to guard this gate. .

A proof that he will always lived until the time of Armageddon.

A proof that he will always lived to see his friend. .

Thinking about that makes him smile.

A one year worth of feelings...It was too short for a human, but for him it was more than enough. Those who you called a friend cannot be comprehend with a dimension of time.

He will always guard this gate. .Whether it was worthless or not. He will try to protect his friend. . He will always try. . It was not because of his fate, but it was the thing that he can do.

"No...It is a thing that I must do. I want them to live their life fully...At least for me...At least for a compensation for my lost year . . .I want to protect them."

"So you have found the meaning. .Or maybe it was your resolution?" A voice spoke.

A heavy silence...It was broke by a small voice of Minato. The small voice however, was full of determination.

"It was a promise. . . And my own wish." Then, he felt that his mouth was curled into a smile. . .


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of bells that keep resounding each other, hallowed and wailed across this room. The place where there are many giant clocks with a large scythe that was chained on it and swinging right and left, making it appeared like a giant grandfather clock with some hideous accessory on it. Those scythe, in which there are many, sometimes collided with each other at random intervals, creating a minor and major disturbance toward the harmony of the resounding voice of the time.

The sound of the time ticking and the sound of the scythe collided with each other. It was as if it was trying to portray the face of the world, in which there is always a disturbance of fate. It was a disturbance towards the plan from the beginning of the world, and created different path that the world will take. The small voice of collision was the disturbance of the plan. It was not planned, occurred at random intervals, and yet...it happened. Those voices created a new harmony towards the voices of the clock, like a song that had been rewritten over a thousand times.

Standing in the middle of it, a figure of a man could be seen. He was sitting in a chair, a chair that is fit for a king. In front of him stood a figure of a woman with short silver hair and golden eyes. She wore blue uniform, and appeared with a strange demeanor and expression in which were not human. And it was true, the woman beside the man was not human after all...That person held a book in which she held tightly on her chest with her right hand.

Looking at the person in front of him, the man put up a smirk, and laughed.

"It's surprising for someone to come here by their own powers, and not because of an invitation from me." The man said with a voice the echoed across the room.

The woman, who was named Elizabeth, looked as if she was trying to suppress her emotion and asked the man before him with a chocked voice, "I have a request."

The man seemed amused by her words, and let out another laugh.

"Oh my, I am here, thinking that I will see something so interesting to abolish my boredom. Yet, here I am, talking to you with some usual...business? Do you know what this place is, or do you come here by...ah, 'accident'?" The man put some pressure toward the word 'accident' and let out an evil smirk.

Elizabeth didn't say anything. After all, it was true that she had come here by accident. But, she didn't come here with any reasons at all...

This accident, for her, was actually a fortunate accident. She had tried many...many years for her to come to this place. And yet, she never found a way to come in contact with this person. At long last, this accident happened and here she was at last, in contact with the person that she sought for years.

"But you do ask me for request..I see, it looks like that you do understand what I do." The man nodded with an amused face.

"It seems that you have potential for my reasons of doing, thus making you appeared in this place. Or, maybe your wish..." The man pointed his finger to Elizabeth, "..Was so intense, full of passion and hope...That you managed to come here by 'accident'."

Again, Elizabeth didn't said anything. For it was true, the passion to fulfill her wish was so great and full of hope, just like he said.

"What a wretched up world that you lived to. The gods are basically playing around with their creation, or else, it was the human itself that became the gods in those worlds. The demons as their servant, the will of human that surpassed the god by each passing seconds..." Suddenly, the man laughed. "It is the age of revolution ! One day when each will of humanity combined and surpassed those of gods, and then human will surpassed god ! The demon of other self will become the god that control the great will humanity, and with you as their servant...those will itself might also fulfill your greatest wish !" The man bellowed. He spoke as if he had known where Elizabeth came from. He spoke as if he had known what request that she wanted to ask.

"So tell me, what are your requests?" Yet, he asked her with a low voice, a deep soothing voice, a question in which that he supposed to have known.

It was because of this voice that she managed to speak.

"I come to safe someone who is dear to me..." Elizabeth said.

The man didn't seem surprised with her remark, yet he showed a disappointed face towards her. He stood up from his chair, and then started to walk to Elizabeth and leaned his face closer to her.

"Can't you wait for time...? The person that you want to save is not someone who will disappear eternally. He was not in an eternal torture, for because that the will of human will save him from the god's grasp of your world ! If only you can wait for several hundreds or thousands year, you can still see him ! Touch him ! Love him with all your will !" He raised his voice suddenly which made Elizabeth cringed a little.

"Yet...you still want to save him ? Do you have no faith with beings that is the same with the one you want to save ?"

Elizabeth was not a human. This was something that she had known deep inside herself, and something that she had accepted. For someone like her, understanding the way of human concept was something beyond her...

But that was, until she had met _him_.

With him, she had known certain things that she had not understood before.

With him, she had understood the concept of human hearts.

With him, she at last understood the meaning of connection between hearts.

And then...She learned to believe in him.

She learned that she can believe in him towards the fate that he's going to overcome.

She learned that she can believe in him towards the fate that he's going to suffer...

But, something was not right...

Somewhere in her heart, all the memories that she spent with him somehow made her heart ache. The word 'believe' that she kept in her heart was faltering little by little. As the time progress, she began to not understand why she can't keep believing in him.

And thus, at some point, she started to lose her patience towards him.

The memory of spending her time with him was haunting her every night.

She couldn't close her eyes, dreaming beautiful dreams of her memory.

She couldn't open her eyes, looking at the reality and the suffering of the person that she had loved.

Those two contradicting feeling destroyed her inner heart and destroyed her patience; crumbling her faith that he returned to be with her.

She can't beat the passage of time. For it was because of it that she had started to lose her faith.

She can't beat the passage of time. For it was because of it that her heart crumbled for every moment that passed.

It was ironic. For it was she, a being that the time shouldn't have any possible meanings for her. And yet, when thinking of him, she started to feel that time really do exist.

It existed to make her, and _him,_ suffer.

Then, she sought to have him saved. She couldn't wait for time to save him, nor can she wait for fate to save him either. It was something unusual, something that even her master took a surprise about. Regardless, he did gave her permission to search for a way to save him. Her master always the one who observe fate, and being what she is at the moment, it looked that he had taken interest towards her fate.

Time...

Time...

Time..

The passing moment, each one of them, made Elizabeth quickening her pace to find a way to save him. She was worried about the passing of time.

Elizabeth always lost in her thought, sometimes during her journey of searching.

'Is this what human called longing for someone...?' She asked to herself each time she thought of him.

It hurt her a lot. Sometimes she found her vision blurred for a reason that she cannot understand. And sometimes, she found herself stuck on the ground each time she remembered the moment with him. And sometimes, she found herself in pain because of her chest that won't stop hurting.

"I see...you merely do not have any patience. You merely sought to be with him as quick as possible. Possibly, at this moment when we talked, you already lost in your dreams of having spending your time with him. You cannot even stay to wait any longer ! You merely want to be with him so much that you can't even allow time to prolong it any longer !"

Elizabeth frowned, and stuttered, "Y-yes..."

The two of them were in silence.

"I can grant your wish." The man said at last.

At this words, Elizabeth face instantly changed into one with glimmer of hope, and a faint smile on her face.

"-Then!"

"But I will not be the one that will save him.."

Those words made Elizabeth gaze him with a perplexed look on her face. If he was not the one to save him, then who else ? She couldn't count for human, since they can only made her wait more longer.

"If I am the one to save him, the fate that person will suffer would be a lot more worse. The fate that was created by someone else and not by their own was nothing but a mere fabrication that will crumble easily." He said with tone of a mysterious sadness.

"Thus, the one who can save him are only those who suffer those fates itself. Which mean...you-"He pointed his finger to Elizabeth."—Him, and his friends."

Elizabeth gritted her teeth. She came all the way here, only to be talked that he can't help her problem? If human is the only that can help him, what difference that it made for her to come here?  
"I did not say that it's going to be the same as waiting for the time that you exactly suffer at the moment. The fate that you and he must suffer is unavoidable, but the time of waiting and suffering for him and you can be..." He closed his eyes for a moment, as if he's trying to search for the right words for him to use. "...Ah, how should I say this...perhaps, manipulated?"

"Manipulated?" Elizabeth tilted her head.

"If one do not have any means for their works, would that someone still continues their works?"

With that being said, the man waved his hand on the air. Suddenly, a giant crystal appeared out of nowhere, bathed with thousands of blue butterfly flying around it and then they spread across the room. Inside of the crystal were millions of thousand sparkles that looked like a group of star cluster, which sparked once in a while. The man touched the crystal with his hand, and suddenly it glowed.

Elizabeth watched this in silence, for she was thinking about what the man had said.

"...Did you mean, we can defeat Nyx?"

"Even with [The World], you guys can only manage to seal him...No, I was wrong. You can only manage to seal the negative feeling of human, so that they won't reach Nyx ever again. But then, when will those negative feeling disappeared...?" The man smirked for a second. "And I guess, you can't wait that long...right?"

"But...what if we had two person to seal them?"

"-What did you mean...?"

"I mean exactly as I said. What if I create a similar world, which had a negative emotion that parallel with each other..? If made those emotions as something not of that world, then with someone else to help him during the sealing...it is possible for him to end his 'duty' quicker than he should to."

"In a way, that is a way to 'save' him in the way you wanted to." The man smiled at Elizabeth.

"But if you create a similar world, that world will also have a negative emotion of human. That alone can summon another Nyx, or worse, multiplying the number of negative emotion that _he _must seal!"

"That is why I want to took those negative emotions to be in another world. It will be accumulated like usual, and it will be stop like usual...but they still are byproduct of your world." The man played his hand on the crystal, in which it result some lines that appeared suddenly on it.

"I will make the similar world a little connected to your world, but the negative emotion on that world will not be accumulated to the negative emotion in your world. They will just disappear...since they are merely copy of the original world, those negative emotions wouldn't have any chance to summon Nyx, nor did it have any meaning instead of the same fate that your world had gone too..."

"In short, that world will not bring any harm to your world, but it will still be connected to your world."

"How?" Elizabeth was still confused.

"The gate. The Great Seal...or whatever you called it, will still be happening on that duplicated world." He waved his hand nonchalantly.

"And because I'm going to made so that those negative emotion will be in another realm, it is possible to connect The Great Seal in that duplicated world to that realm. Also, The Great Seal that happened in your world will also be connected with that realm."

"I see...it means, there will be two Great Seal that will stop Nyx's coming. But if you transfer those negative emotions to another realm, would that just solve the problem?"

"Negative. Those from another world will return to their world if the disturbance of their fate is manipulated forcefully. Rather than having it in havoc when it returned, it is safer to seal them at that realm."

"I see..." Elizabeth nodded in sadness.

"Of course, by having two people to do The Great Seal and only one entity of negative emotion, there's no need for him to use all of his power to seal the entity..."

Realization hit Elizabeth. It was by this world that she understands how this man going to help her.

"So...! That person will be coming back!"

"In a sense, yes. He will come back. But there's always something that contradict every plan and will hinder it. This, for example, is the imbalance of the world because the duplication."

"Imbalance? You mean something will happen to our world? But you said that the duplicated world will bring no harm to us?"

"What I meant is that the negative emotion in that world will not bring harm to your world. But the world itself...might mean harm, or maybe a new harmony that will create something new to your world."

"You can say that it's the effect of having the world duplicated. Some things might happen differently, but it will follow the same fate. But it seems to have a greater effect with the duplicated world..." The man put his finger on his chin, thinking.

"Because of the concept of balance, the thing that happened in the other world looks like the opposite of a coin. Like a concept of Persona, the world that it represents might look different, but same on the inside..."

He began to touch the crystal again and it glowed in red color. The sparkling shard inside it began to sparkle with yellow color and it began to move at random. While the shard moves, it began to leave a trail of golden line behind it, creating something that is similar to miniature planetarium with golden color.

"The world is being created...I had a feeling that the one who is going to do The Great Seal will be a woman..." The man mumbled.

"A woman ?"

"Yes, because to balance both world like I explained before, it's possible for such things to happen. And the rest is up to the people inside that world...Will they do the same ? Or will stray from their path to another chaos, or new prosperity ?"

"Is this what you meant by leaving the humans to help him..?"

The man nodded.

"Yes, even if you can call me the omnipotent god, I still can't help you with my own power. Something that happened in both world is now beyond my control...and that is what those humans will decide themselves. If they still want the world to end, then the time where that person will be saved will still be longer than you had hoped. Even if I had strengthened the seal, if those humans never learn what they did towards their own world, it might still be useless...That's why..." The man looked at Elizabeth with an unreadable expression.

"That's why you had to guide them. Guide them towards the fate that you wished for..Guide them to their new prosperity." He put his finger on Elizabeth forehead.

Elizabeth wanted to nod, but she stopped. As she looked at this man gaze, she realized that it was so intese. Elizabeth felt as if she was perplexed by that man gazed and felt her body numbed.

"..And you, must forget about our little meeting here. Not only this, but your every memory you had shared at the time when that person begins his journey... Then, you must guide him to the fate that you had wished. You must guide with, unknowing with your own reason to do it."

Elizabeth can't accept this. For her, the memory she had spent with him was a memory that she wanted to treasure forever. If those memories were gone, there's no reason for her to do all of this anymore.

Yet, she didn't say anything.

All she did, was smile..

"It's...strange."

"What is it ?"

"For me to lose all of my memories that I spent with him...is something that is beyond sadness. That is what my emotion keeps telling me about...It's so sad, that I actually wanted to cry. It's so...strange."

"...and yet, at the same time..I feel so...happy.." Elizabeth looked down, sad smile spread on her face.

"I feel so happy to hear that he can be saved by doing this..."

The man looked at her nonchalantly, and removed his hand on her forehead.

"It is time. The creation of the world will begin."

The crystal which glowed in red colored started to shine more brightly. Suddenly, there's a bunch of golden line spread across the crystal and surrounded it. And then, the room suddenly shined brightly that it blinded Elizabeth with its light.

Those lights were so intense, that it almost made her faint.

"I hope you can still find your reasons in the new created world."

That...is the last thing that she heard from him.

Elizabeth was floating in the darkness.

It was a void. The beginning from the world that was created from nothing. Also, the remnants of the world that was destroyed at the process.

The time was repeated. The memory that was stored inside her head kept playing back and forth like a broken movie. It was a memory of her and him...a memory that will soon be gone.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, knowing that when she woke up, she will found herself with no memories of _him_

But...if she did know about it, why did she still closed her eyes ?

Elizabeth did not understand it. Those memories that were still intact in her, clinging like a a person hanging around the edge of cliff, kept making her heart wretched in pain.

But still...she closed her eyes.

Elizabeth did not understand it, and she worried that she might never understand it.

"...If only you are here...what are you going to say to me...?"

"Can you please...explain it to me ? The feeling that I have right now...?"

"Why is it...that the feeling of wanting to save you is stronger than the memories that I keep with you...?"

"Can you please...explain it to me..? Minato...?"

She felt a new sensation across her cheek. It was warm, and wet. She wanted to touch it with her hands, but found that she was unable to do so.

Elizabeth did not understand that she had shed a tear. She did not understand that it was the representative of sadness that she felt, and there will be no more time in the future for her to understand it.

Soon, the world will be repeated.

The new world that consists of two possibilities that led to an infinite amount of possibilities.

"If...I can meet you again in that world..."

"Would you like to...spend time with me again..?"

Elizabeth smiled, and the world was engulfed by light once more.

And...The world was created.

Which possibilities that they will take?

Elizabeth hoped that at the future of those worlds, that person will be happy.

And she had hoped that she could be together with him forever.


	3. Chapter 3

In a dark realm where Ryouji resides, where nothing was born and disappeared, Ryouji felt unease in his heart. It's a mysterious feeling, as the realm will produce no such things. A feeling of unease that was 'born' in this realm contradicts the rule of this world itself, and thus cannot exist.

"Yet...what is this feeling of uneasiness?"

A figure called 'Ryouji' didn't exist in that realm. As he holds no physical figure, one could say that the entire darkness in this realm was Ryouji himself. Thus, the feeling of cutting space with his finger was only a metaphor in his situation, although in his mind, it was an action that he took right now.

A bright white light appeared from a hole that looked like a slit that appeared out of nowhere. It was an act of cutting dimension by means to observe and not an act to transfer into it. Even though the distance between the place inside that hole and this realm might looked so close, yet, one cannot enter that hole and at the next second, he will be in that place. That was the rule of a hole that was meant for observing.

Inside of that tiny hole was a scene of a place. The place was a ground that looked like it was floating in the air. The sky had the same dark color like this realm. There was one thing in particular that was different and looked like it was supposed not to be there, a giant white door with a statue of a man hanging on the top of it and chained to the door. The expression on the human face looked almost lifeless, but somehow had a strong determination deep inside of it.

"Minato..." Ryouji called the statue.

Yet, the statue didn't answer. The hole that was only meant of observing cannot interact in any way with the one on the other side. Having one to do so was a difficult task...or perhaps, a miracle. Ryouji had once achieved this for a while, but it was starting to disappear with each passing time. The miracle didn't last long, and thus he was deteriorated into this state when he could only observe him.

He was prepared for the time where he couldn't observe him again. After all, observing him was a miracle itself in the first place.

He and the 'gate' mustn't meet, for it was the rule that was imposed to them by the world. As the dark will of human tried to reach him, Ryouji cannot bring himself towards the gate. One might call him the harbinger of the end, but his existence was so fragile without the dark will of human kind to perceive him. It was not an exaggeration if his state at that moment was something close to nothingness.

What can 'nothing' do to interact with something that exists?

It was the same with the 'gate'. It cannot interact with Ryouji as it contradicts its purpose. The gate or the the Great Seal was created on a lone purpose to hold the dark will of humanity for the end. By assigning the gate with a task other than holding off the will of humanity, the existence of the gate itself will crumble away and Erebus will have reach towards the end.

Perhaps, it was only a mere coincidence that because there are someone out there that perceive the 'gate' as human that it holds some physical appearance of human in that gate. And perhaps, it was also the reason why the gate itself still holds the life of the young human boy called Arisato Minato.

"Yet...I cannot interact with him..."

Ryouji realized that by interacting with him, it will cause a great strain towards his already weak existence and might make him disappear.

It was the mistake of unfortunate luck, as no one beside his friend and some others; there is no one to perceive the gate as a human being. This was because his action was only known by few, and most of them are human. When they died, there will be no one else that can perceive him as human. Even the robot called Aegis will someday rot away and died. Ryouji realized that this would mean, one day in the future, the life of Minato will disappear and the gate will exist solely as a seal.

"No... Perhaps I was wrong. His life might not disappear, but he will never be human anymore."

If only a persona is a real demon, then perhaps they might perceive them as a human, albeit that they might took his soul to hell and torture him eternally. But they are not demon, and Ryouji at the moment was not something that can perceive him.

Ryouji gritted his teeth. Though he has no physical appearance, the he in his mind acted as if he was really doing it. Although he knew that it's a future that cannot be avoided, he didn't want it to happen.

"...?"

As soon as he thought of that, the feeling of uneasiness and realization hit him.

He was a being of nothingness, and yet, how can he feel this despair that overcome him? He felt as if he was slowly becoming more...exists. It was as if he became more human at each passing time because of an unknown force, something that can overwrite the rule of the world with ease.

Ryouji could feel his arm slowly began to appear.

After that, his leg where he could feel the ground on which he stood.

After that, his body appeared where he could feel his heart beating.

After that, his mouth appeared where he let out a small breath.

And at last, his eyes where could finally see the world with his own two eyes.

"What...?"

Ryouji looked down to see that he finally gained a physical appearance. The same Ryouji that appeared in that short moment where he was a friend of Minato. He saw that he had the same pale skin that he longed for, and the same softness of his skin that he craved.

"What...? How can this be—"Ryouji couldn't hide his surprise. Even as a miracle, it was almost impossible for him to return into this form. In the first place, it was already a miracle for him to be perceived as a human like this. It was a mere coincidence of fate that he reside in Minato's body for 10 years that he can be perceived like this. In this dark realm where there were nothing, those effect starts to gradually disappearing and he had eventually return into nothingness, waiting for his purpose of his existence so that he can be perceived once more.

And yet, here he was a human right now. A human with a name of Ryouji Mochizuki, and a friend of Minato Arisato.

He found himself standing in this realm of darkness alone. His clothes were the same as the one he wore years ago. His yellow scarf was wrapped lightly on his neck.

"Is this a fragment of memory...? No, a fragment of memory doesn't feel this...real..."

Ryouji began to doubt his own existence. He thought that for some reasons, he had degenerated as a piece of living memory, and thus having him changed into this state. But it was impossible, as the him right now feels...real. Not to mention, a piece of living memory were always bound to several condition. Thought they might look real, after the condition was cleared, they will return to nothing.

But Ryouji didn't feel anything like that.

"If so...what happened ?"

While curious about his own predicament, Ryouji couldn't help but to take a peek with Minato's condition. After all, for some reasons, the source of uneasiness was from in there.

In the hole that observed Minato's condition, he could see that the Great Seal was still intact. There was nothing wrong with it, and it didn't look like there were any differences. But still, Ryouji couldn't help but to feel uneasy.

As soon as he thought that, he realized that there was something wrong.

The great will of humanity for the end manifested as a form of monster, Erebus. The Great Seal, which stood on a place between him and Erebus, will always try to prevent it to reach Nyx. In each passing time, the numbers of humans that were disappointed of this world keep increasing. The amount of sadness and despair keep accumulated and return as a great will of humanity. And this, will lead towards the end.

As the accumulated despair grows, so is Erebus. Thus, Erebus will never stop at trying to reach Nyx, and the Great Seal will never stop preventing it.

"But...where is Erebus ?"

That abomination that was always trying to destroy the Great Seal wasn't there.

He tried to look a bit closer to the observation hole in hope for trying to search for that abomination, but he couldn't find it.

"What happened!" Ryouji exclaimed in surprise.

More strange things keep occurring after he became 'human'. Something that was beyond the world's logic. The worlds were always bound by a rule, and it was there as a limit for any action that the world took. The event that occurred in front of his very eyes was something that the world will never permit.

Violating the rule of the world means that you contradict your own action. The action that wasn't permitted wouldn't be perceived in any way by the world and thus it's impossible to happen.

And yet, the event still took place in front of his very eyes.

"Impossible..." Ryouji couldn't believe what was happening.

The appearance of his human form might still be permitted as miracle, albeit by a long-shot, but the disappearance of Erebus was just impossible. Making it disappear was almost the same as contradicting the existence of human themselves!

So then, why did it gone!

His mind was clouded that he didn't realized that a man with black hair and crimson eyes appeared out of nowhere and looking up to the gate. The man wore a dark cloak that seems a bit brighter than night, and wore clothes that fit for a king underneath it. The man looked at the gate as though studying it.

It was when he chuckled when Ryouji realized his existence.

"What...?"

The man somehow looked at him. It was an impossible act for him to realize the observation hole, as both sides were never 'connected' to begin with. It was like a television, where one could know what was happening at the other side, but the others couldn't.

So then, why did he realize that Ryouji was looking at him?

The man held up his hand, and took up a gesture as though he was gripping something out of thin air.

Then, Ryouji felt as though his body was compressed into tiny bits of particles and dragged forcefully to the front. He felt as though he was squeezing down at a tiny tube with all of his body intact. He couldn't feel his blood flowing through his veins, as though it was stopped.

But Ryouji didn't feel pain, for when his body tried to understand the concept of pain, the squeezing stop. And when he realized it, he was already in the other side, kneeling down on the ground, panting. In front of him, the man with crimson eyes gazed at him from above with a nonchalant look on his face.

"Great, now I can talk to you much easier now." The man said folding his hand on his chest.

Ryouji looked up to the man.

"Who are you?" He asked with a tone of confusion and caution. He realized that whoever he was, it was someone that can overwrite and violate the rule of the world with ease. Even though he might called himself a god, his power was also limited. Ryouji could only name a few who can achieve this feat...and many of them are gods or demons in higher plane, mainly from Judeo - Christianity faction.

The man looked at Ryouji with raised eyebrow, and sighed. He looked as if he already realized what Ryouji was thinking and realized that he didn't get it right.

"You can call me whatever you want. But if you want to call me a god or a demon, I prefer to be called demon." He said with a thin smile on his face.

Ryouji got up from his knees, his eyes still fixated towards the man. "A demon...If you're not a demon from Judeo – Christ, then what are you?"

The man took his time to think, and said, "It doesn't really important at all. What important is that this world had perceived me to take this form, so perhaps calling me a human isn't that much wrong at all."

"-More like you forced the world to perceive you in this form." Ryuji winced

"And what makes you think that?" The man raised his eyebrow. "Many demons or gods can be perceived in human forms, they just rarely do it...right?"

"It's not because they don't want to do it, but it's more like they can't do it that easily. There must be a medium where they can be perceived as human that they can achieve their physical appearance. In this world where the teaching of demons and gods becoming more and more degenerated, it has become harder for them to come into this plane as humans."

The man tilted his head. "Eh? Is that so? I just noticed that Lucifer tends to change himself to a human form when he came to earth."

Ryouji winced when he heard this. For some reasons, the man in front of him was used to call the name of the great demon king so casually. Of course, there are many foolish humans or some lesser deity that also call him casually...but beings with higher power must've already understood the difference of their hierarchy of power compared to the demon king. As such, higher demons or gods tends to revere him.

Which made Ryouji thinks that whoever this person is, it must be someone with a power close to the demon king or perhaps even higher.

'He can't be a lesser demon or god...He had such power to overwrite the rule of the world. It is impossible for him to be a lesser demon if he had that much power." Ryouji thought.

"Have you ever heard about the reasons why the gods need to be prayed? It is the source of their power, and their medium to be perceived as an existence. The demon king has been revered by humans, demons, or even god alike. His name was even stated as one who rebelled against the god in the bible. He has so many mediums to perceive his existence, and because of that, his power can be compared to god."

The man nodded. "I see, so every existence in this world must be perceived in some way for it to appear? And what does it has anything to do with him being able to take form as human, and mine to be so surprising?"

"Because those from Judeo – Christian faction are believed to be able to take form as humans. Normally, that wouldn't be enough for them to manifest as a human...but the number of humans that believed in that are too many. As such, it's possible for them to be perceived as humans."

Ryouji sighed. The man in front of him was becoming more and more mysterious. It seemed as if he had only known about that fact right after Ryouji told him about it.

"As for you, what kind of manifestation are you?"

The man gave a nonchalant look. "It's nothing important." He waved his hand.

Ryouji gave him an approving look. A deity has a giant weakness. That weakness is need to be perceived. As such, as long as there is someone out there to perceive it, a deity will continue to exist, albeit perhaps in different forms. So to destroy a deity, one must destroy the source of their manifestation.

For example, Nyx is the manifestation of the fall. If we destroy all the humans in this world who believed in the fall, Nyx itself will crumble away. Of course, such thing is beyond impossible. That was the reason why Nyx are omnipotent in some way.

It was also the same with Judeo – Christian demons. They have so many believers that they will not be destroyed easily. Not to mention, their teachings branched into many different religion. Even though you destroyed one of their cults, another will raise to perceive them and take vengeance.

But still, most deity will take precaution not to speak their name or their manifestation easily, as they will bring a chance for them to be destroyed even by 0.1%.

So it was not surprising for this man to dodge his question.

"After all, being perceived or not, I will continue to exist. Even as the world's end, I will continue to exist. So it doesn't matter if someone's out there want to perceive me or not." The man shrugged.

"Wha-?" Ryouji couldn't keep his surprise. He had once heard that even the greatest god had once been destroyed by human hands, and he can only returned to life because the human still perceived him. But the person in front of him said that it doesn't matter if someone perceived him or not, he will continue to exist...!

"Just...what are you?"

The man closed his eyes, and spoke in deep, clear voices.

"In this world...and many other worlds out there, there is a concept which was born when the world was created, and will still lives when the world end. This concept is the driving forces of all existence, and will continue to guide them until the end. In their guidance, there are many of those who tried to defy it, and many of those who accepts it. But still they don't realize that what they did was merely following its guidance."

The man then smiled at Ryouji.

"I am the manifestation of that concept."

Ryoji eyes widened as he heard this, and became solemn after a while. A frown then can be seen on his face.

"I've never heard that such 'thing' has a manifestation..." Ryoji sighed. "But I guess, it's possible for you to rewrite the rule of the world to your likings."

The man shrugged.

"As I said before, you can call me whatever you wish."

Ryoji chuckled.

"I guess demon really do fit you after all."

"Perhaps because of your condition, I will consider that as a compliment." The man smiled. "But alas, we have a matter to discuss." The expression of the man became more serious. Seeing this, Ryoji realized something. It was no mere whim of him to forcefully dragged him into this realm.

"Is this..." Ryoji pointed to his own body. "Your doing?"

The man nodded.

Ryoji had just reassured himself that whoever he is, he had some purpose to make him taking up a human form. Not to mention, by having him in this form was the same as giving him a perceived existence.

"What is it that you want?" Ryoji asked. He needed to be cautious. After all, he was the harbinger of chaos. The one who seek aid for him was mainly those who want to bring the fall. Ryoji, after gaining humanity inside him, didn't want it. It was a wish from his dear old friend and his own that he wanted to prevent the fall from coming.

So perhaps the man in front of him was trying to call the fall by calling him.

"Be at ease." The man said with a tone that was similar of a king that was trying to order his subject.

Ryoji caught by reflex and for some reasons, he felt at ease.

He knew for some reasons that he still need to be cautious. After all, the person in front of him was a manifestation of that 'thing'. But still, it was impossible for him to feel cautious at all. He could feel his muscle relaxed, even though he didn't want to. And then, deep in his mind, he could feel that the man in front of him was trying to creep up and tried to become his 'friend'. In the end, he couldn't help but to feel at ease even though he still need to be cautious.

It was as if the man had hypnotized him to act as he ordered.

"This...power..." Ryoji grunted.

"It's a wish." The man said casually while shrugging his shoulder.

Ryoji frowned. He realized that the man in front of him didn't lie, as he was the manifestation of that concept, it's normal for him to be able to do this. But still, he only acknowledged that 'skill' as a wish...was something that Ryoji couldn't agree on.

"I wanted to speak with you normally, but it's not possible at the moment. Do you realize what state you are in right now?" The man pointed at Ryoji.

"At ease?" Ryouji mused.

The man decided to ignore this as he went on. "You do realize that you are in your human form, something that is almost beyond impossible to achieve because of the rules of the world...do you want to know why that happened?"

"A being in your power can easily achieve this. That is to say, I still don't know about your motive."

"That will be explained in due time." The man waved his hand, "But still, I just realized that we don't have much time. Consider yourself at the moment...do you really think that you've just become your human form without any compensation?"

Ryouji pondered at this. That is true, many great powers come at reasonable, and even, hefty prizes that will make you think for the second time before trying to use it. Take example of Minato's great seal, where he needed to be in that state to seal Erebus.

"I see...so there is a compensation for me becoming this human form?"

"Well...actually, compensation is not really the right term. I just want to explain it in the words that you might understand." He said while scratching his chin.

Ryouji frowned. Did he just implied that Ryouji was not smart enough to understand it, or perhaps implying that he didn't need any compensation for making him a human again ?

"You might think that you've evolved your human form, but that is not the case." The man pointed at Ryouji again. "It's wiser to say that you in fact, degenerating back into the state of human." The crimson eyes gazed at Ryouji menacingly, making Ryouji slightly winced at this. "Yes, you should feel that your power will become weaker at every passing moment, right?"

"..." Ryouji didn't say anything. He was right; the portion of his power that was made up of the arcana seems to be getting weaker.

"So...you turned back time?"

The man slightly nodded. "You could say it that way. Your body that was made of 12 arcana should've degenerated back to your incomplete form after a while. But of course, since I still need to talk to you, I'll have you gain this human form with my power."

For some reasons, Ryouji wasn't surprised at this. Perhaps the effect of his order to be 'at ease' took part in it?

"Turning back time...what is it that you want to accomplish?"

"Have you ever heard that Philemon once had rewritten the time and create a new possibility for this world?"

Ryouji nodded.

"I've heard it once. This world that we lived now had been rewritten by him once. From what I've heard, he'd done it to fulfill the wish of human that asked him for help..."

Realization then hit Ryouji.

"-Don't tell me, you too-!"

"-You could say that my purpose is similar to him in that way. I did this to fulfill a wish that one had requested on me...of course, with a price to pay." The man slightly smiled. "But, since I'm not in the position to be involved directly with...these worlds, I need a help to fulfill that wish. After all, a being like us shouldn't be involved directly with the world."

Ryouji nodded. What the man said before didn't mean that he couldn't make himself to be involved with the world, but the consequence of doing it was the same as bringing up a string of chaos throughout the world.

Even so, it doesn't mean that only demon with malevolent heart is always the one who strife chaos. There are also gods that wanted to strife chaos for their own benefits, trying to involved themselves in the world of human to regain their power, or even for their own fun.

In fact, it might be not an exaggeration that the world of human is a mere game for those deities.

Realizing this, the man in front of him might not be so evil at all.

At the thought of that, Ryouji winced. Realizing his nature of manifestation, he should've realized sooner that the man in front of him was neither good nor evil.

The man sighed.

"This...might take a while, as I'm not one to tell a story better than children talk their experience."

He then began to tell Ryouji about his circumstances and his purpose. At hearing his purpose and his way to divide the world into two, Ryouji almost gaped. if not because he had accepted the fact about the man before him could do something in that level, he will surely be shocked.

Even so, he never revealed about his 'client' to Ryouji, which bugged Ryouji for some reasons. After all, who in the world can get in touch with this man even with a miracle ? Even his existence was unknown to him before he even met the man.

After a long talk with much stop and thinking, the man finished the story.

Ryouji smiled at the man. A gleam of hope can be seen in his eyes as his hands tremble in excitement.

"You mean...you're going to save Minato..?"

"That's what it said in my contract...or am I wrong ?" The man tilted his head.

"But still...to do even that..."

"It doesn't mean that he will be saved at the spot. Let me remind you...he will _eventually _be saved, so it might take a while before he will be completely saved..." The man paused, "It's up to those humans whether they can overcome their trial or not..." he whispered.

Hearing this, Ryouji tensed. It's the first time that he heard about such things called 'trials'.

"What do you mean ?"

The man smirked. "I said it before, right ? I will fulfill that wish with...a certain price." He gave an exaggerated sigh.

"As for what it is...I think you will find out soon enough." The man said as he waved his hands. "You should understand...humans are weak creatures. They always need guidance, a certain impact that can affect them. Being like them now, they will never achieve the true future that they can achieve...moreover, they will always be misguided by the demons and gods that 'guide' them !" The man glared at Ryouji with a mysterious gleam in his eyes.

"However...guidance is needed! Those stray lambs that will forever not knowing who and where they are will never achieve it ! Even by rewriting the history infinitely, they will never change ! Without our guidance, those freedom that they think they have are merely a fabrication of a stagnant world with no future!"

The man raised his hands to the air.

"Yes...chaos is needed! Human want change! Human wants the future! If freedom are the source of the stagnant world, then our guidance will change it!"

Ryouji frowned. While it may be true that the world without the gods, or even demons, guidance will likely bring a free world of human, it doesn't means that they are completely free. They will still be bounded by fate that hold them, and without divine power, the human will never change the fate.

Actually, if a person thinks that he had changed his fate...it was actually a mere god's guidance that redirects his fate to something else.

Humans, after all, are a weak creature.

"I never thought of you as a law alignment...the talk of guidance usually comes from those angels out there, and not by demons."

The man shrugged.

"It depends on the type of the guidance, right?"

Ryouji nodded. The guidance of the angels usually forced their believers to worship the god, while the demon's guidance brings chaos throughout the world and forces human to overcome it.

"So...what is it that you need me for? As for this guidance of yours, wouldn't it be simpler to do it yourself?"

A mysterious smile crept out on his face. "That's why I'm doing it." He said. "I want you to do something for me..."

Ryouji raised his eyebrow. "What is it?"

"It's a simple task, really. You will have to do it whether you want it or not..." The man paused. "...Let's just say...I want to remind you about your tasks."

"Which is to bring end to the world? Don't tell me you-!"

"No. I will not safe Minato by making him not to do the Great Seal because you've managed to end the world." The man tried to reassure Ryouji. "But nevertheless, you know that you will perform appear in those worlds, right?"

"And be stopped by Minato?"

The man nodded.

"Such is the way of fate."

"I see...but then, what is it that you want from me?"

"...You should know that I've created another world that parallel your world, right?" After saying this, the man smiled. In his hand was a blue butterfly, which fluttering its wing quitely and fly away from his hand. As it fly, the color of the butterfly changed into red, creating a trail of red dust on its wake.

"Yes...as the Minato of that world will 'help' to perform the Great Seal, which will make the burden for Minato to become lighter...right?" Ryouji said with a hint of disbelief. Even by knowing what the man in front of him was, it was still quite unbelievable that anyone could achieve such a feat.

"And...I want you to do...two things, actually."

"So...It has something to do with Minato in that world..?"

The man nodded.

"I want you to watch her." The man said. For some reasons, Ryouji felt a sudden chill on his back. It's a simple request, but for some reasons he felt as if there was something behind it...something that is so malevolent that he couldn't described it with words. He then realized that there is something wrong with what he was saying.

"Her...?"

"Yes. It seems that this 'Minato' in that world will be...a girl, in your definition."

"I see...then that means, I can date her?" Ryouji chuckled. The thought about having a female Minato amused him, although it also interests him. After hearing this, the man just smile.

And yet again, Ryouji felt a sudden chill.

"I want you to watch her, just...make sure of that."

Ryouji nodded.

"I will be watching her, right? You do realize that I will, in fact, be with her for 10 years inside of her body?"

The man pointed at Ryouji.

"You will know soon enough. You will know then, the magnitude of such small request is not as small as you might've think."

Ryouji was shocked. Even for him, granting this 'small request' like this was almost a miracle. For him, it was not such a small feat...and yet, this man still say that it's larger that he might think?

Ryouji wanted to ask him more detail about it, but realized that the man won't say anything about it even if he asked. So instead, he just nodded and vowed to watch her closely in his heart.

After all, even if she's not Minato, she's still the other side of the coin of Minato.

"And what is the other request?"

The darkness that covered this place suddenly crumbled. Like it was dispersed, the dark mud that covered this place slowly drips down from the sky and behind it; a shining bright light can be seen. The ground, which held nothing but Ryouji, the man, and Minato's gate, slowly crumbled and was turn to dust from each corner of the ground.

A slight tremor could be felt, and yet both Ryouji and the man didn't seem to be fazed.

"Ah, it seems that Erebus had...successfully be 'transferred'."

"To the dimension which connects both worlds..?"

"Yes, as for what reasons, I believe I have told you?"

"So that we can connect the great seal?"

"Yes..." The man put his finger to his chin and seemed to be thinking deeply. "Though...it might still take some time to..." The man then mumbled, low enough for him not to hear it.

Truth to be told, Ryouji couldn't believe the man in front of him completely. While perhaps that he wanted to help them save Minato, the man seemed to have many secrets on his sleeve. The last statement bugs Ryouji, but he can't actually ask him about it.

It's best not to provoke the man that much, and Ryouji knows it.

He believed that he can't be trusted, and yet, Ryouji understand that he had no one to rely on except for him at the momemnt.

"I see...then this place also start to disappear because the time was slowly going back..?"

"Perhaps it is so...the you and me cannot perceive it as it didn't exist at both me or your memory, making it an unknown place for me and you."

"I see...then, I will return to my original form and be with Minato...right from the start..?"

"And also, with her." The man reminded him.

The place had all but crumbled except for the tiny ground that hold both of them. The dark ceiling had now changed into white, making the place looked as if it was a giant white dome that only had both of them inside of it.

"I want to ask you something..."

The man frowned, and as if he had known what he was going to ask, he then said in a small voice, "About what will happen to you?"

Ryouji nodded.

"If there will be only one Erebus entity, will there also be only one Nyx entity?"

The man nodded.

"Which also means, that there will only be one Ryouji in both worlds. You are not a separate entity, but a being like you could possibly do it, right?"

Ryouji pondered about it. As a god, he's not a human. He's not bound by the rules of the world that there can't be two separate entities at the same time. He could just show up to both world as an avatar for the fall because both world will try to summon him. It's like that he could appear at two different places if both mediums and the procedure that happened in both place have been done.

To put it simply, he could put a 'proxy', or more approximately, his other self to both worlds.

"I need to remind you, your main focus is with the 'other' Minato."

"I always wondered why you're focusing to her." Ryouji chuckled.

The man paused, and then walked to Ryouji. The ground that was holding him just now then crumbled into dust. As soon as he was standing near Ryouji, the only grounds that held them up was only a small piece of ground that stood up like a pillar.

The man touched Ryouji's cheek with his hand as he whispered.

"Because you will need it to successfully grant your wish..."

The man closed his eyes. His hand was shining with a strange light-blue glow as he mumbled several chant that even Ryouji couldn't understand.

"_What is that magic...? Is it so ancient that might exist at the beginning of creation?"_

"My other request...is for you to remember our little meeting here."

At hearing this, Ryouji couldn't help but laughed.

"But of course, who would forget such a...interesting encounter?"

The man shook his head.

"If not because what I wished, it will take several millennia worth of miracle for you to remember this meeting...as you will soon be return into that state where you were in Minato's body...as Death."

Which means that he was talking that by rewinding the time; he couldn't remember the event that happened in 'the future'. He won't have the ability to perceive it into his memory, so it won't exist. If not because he himself was a mere avatar that achieved this form because of a miracle, the man wouldn't need to do that because he's a god. A god or demons doesn't share their connection with the time of these worlds as they existed in a dimension different than them.

But Ryouji, as a 'human', lived inside of it. Thus, it's not possible for him to remember the 'future'.

"I see...should I say thanks, or should I safe it until I realize the purpose of you doing this..?"

The man then smiled. Then, with a little push on his shoulder, Ryouji fell from the ground that was holding him up.

He was then drowned in a sea of white, with nothing that held him and nothing that can be felt. He felt himself beginning to crumble like those grounds that turned into dust, or that darkness that dissolved into the white void...

And yet, in this strange white void where he was slowly disappearing, he felt himself at ease.

For because after this, he will still remember about Minato and his friends who had tried to changed their fate for death. They gave him courage to stand against the overwhelming odds at the future, where he can only bet from that man to gain the future that he always wanted. A future where the world at peace and never wanted to summon the fall...

"No..." Ryouji whispered.

Perhaps, his wish is simpler than that.

Perhaps, his wish is nothing more than to save a single friend that he had in this world.

While he might be disappearing right now, Ryouji realized that there will be a future where his wish can be granted.

Because of that, he felt at ease.

And before his existence faded, he heard the man voice.

The tone was neither soothing nor menacing.

It was as if he was only saying what the fate had told him beforehand.

A mere statement of stating the obvious.

"Good luck in your endless despair, Ryouji-kun."

And...a childish tone as if he was talking to his toys can be heard by him.

Then, the world turned white.


End file.
